Brown says pension cuts won't be reversed

Updated 9:40 pm, Friday, September 7, 2012

Critics of last week's pension deal between Gov. Jerry Brown and Democratic lawmakers pointed out that the Legislature could simply reverse those changes next year - but Brown said this week that as long as he is governor, that "is not going to happen."

The governor stopped short of promising to veto any bill that did so: "I don't like to send veto threats out," he told the Chronicle editorial board Thursday. "I don't want to be in that role - I am in a conciliatory mode. I'm a diplomat."

But he said voters should be assured that neither he nor lawmakers would seek to weaken the deal, which he called "pretty amazing," and the most "far-reaching pension reform, probably going back ever."

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"We're not going to roll back pension (changes) - it won't get out of the Legislature, I can't even imagine that," he said. "You can take it to the bank that those pensions are not going to be rolled back."

If anything, he said, state officials will go even further in 2013 to curb taxpayer costs and increase public employee contributions.

Turtles, bobcats and bears: Depending on whom you ask, they are either some of the most powerful lobbyists in Sacramento or just grassroots defenders of our furry friends.

One thing is sure: The state's animal lovers were successful this legislative session, persuading lawmakers to send at least seven bills to the governor.

You probably heard about SB1221, which would ban hunters from using dogs to chase down bears and bobcats. Here are some of the other animal protection measures sponsored by the Humane Society of the United States, which is publicly appealing to Brown to sign them all:

-- SB1229, which would prohibit landlords from requiring that a cat be declawed or a dog get its vocal cords removed as a condition of tenancy.

-- SB1500, which would speed up the adoption process for animals seized from their owners because of cruelty or neglect.

-- SB1480, which would make it illegal to trap bats, starting July 1, and illegal to kill trapped mammals by drowning or chest crushing.

Finally, there's AB1776, which would designate a new state animal - a reptile, to be exact.

If signed by Brown, the measure would make the endangered leatherback turtle the state's official marine reptile, putting it in the same category as the desert tortoise, the state's official (land) reptile; the California grizzly bear, the state's official animal; and the California quail, its official bird.

Not so fast: A federal judge has rejected California's request to end a court-appointed receiver's oversight of state prisons immediately, saying that while state officials have made progress, that doesn't mean they have the "capacity" or "leadership" to yet maintain acceptable conditions in California lockups.

Medical care in state prisons has been overseen by a receiver for six years, since U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson ruled that an inadequate health system was leading to about 50 avoidable inmate deaths a year and was violating constitutional standards - problems he largely attributed to overcrowding.

While prison populations have fallen this year, Henderson said in a ruling this week that the state is not ready to take the reins.

In rejecting the state's request, he wrote that state officials "have not always cooperated with, and have sometimes actively sought to block," improvements, and that, while independent evaluations have shown some progress, there's no proof there has been enough.

Henderson also rejected arguments by state lawyers that this year's budget act proves a "willingness and ability" to provide medical care, saying history has shown that "passing legislation and implementing legislation are two very different things."

He also refused to set a concrete timeline for when the receivership will end.

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